”Are you alright big guy?” Marcus asks him with a concerned voice.

”That was so close and intense. You almost had him. A few more punches would have done it!” They all tried to encourage Chim. By being the first challenger, Chim had made the others more relaxed and less nervous about their own trials. He had showed them that they had to leave their fear aside and the doubts they have about themselves and just focus on the task at hand.

Then as quickly as the first fight had started, so had the second and a loud noise was heard.

All the contenders turned their heads towards Zoi and Maimut. It had begun!

”I will not hold back against you girl! You are in my way!” Maimut screamed with the fiercest voice he could muster up and hit the ground where he was standing with his fist. He wanted to frighten her, but it did not work.

Zoi was more agile than Chim and she thought that it would not be possible to use the liana to her advantage as Chim had done because Maimut would be prepared for it now. In order for her to win she had to outwit him. Zahn had said earlier when presenting the trial that one does not need to be very intelligent to win but clearly, he was mistaken. Maimut was not of normal size and therefore she needed to do something unpredictable to hopefully catch Maimut off-guard. She wanted to make this the toughest fight in his life, but she also intended to make him use that brain of his.

She did the unexpected and started to dash and run towards Maimut. He did not know how to react, because that was his tactics. He had planned to charge towards her, inflicting fear. He swung his fist towards Zoi’s, and she dodged it with ease, only to appeared behind him. She was facing his back and his huge muscles that were almost three times the size of her own body.

”Maybe that is the best way. I will have to fight him where he cannot see. Almost as Chim did.” She thought to herself.

She jumped onto him, clawing her way up with no fear towards the area where Chim had ripped of the patch of fur. Zoi stuck her long nails inside it and started to bite him. They went deep inside in his shoulder and Maimut let out a cry of pain. She had found his soft spot with the help from Chim.

She was now clinging on Maimut’s back. The feeling was very familiar to Maimut. Someone was on his back again. He tried to grab her like he did to Chim but Zoi was not moving from her perfect position. Through the pain Maimut believed that he had found a solution.

“What if I...?” He thought rapidly to himself.

Maimut grabs one of the branches and starts to pull himself upwards with Zoi on his back. He knew that he might get hurt if he went too far up the branch and decided that this height was enough for him to get her off his back. His strategy was to land on his back and put all of his weight onto Zoi and hopefully crush her and not sustain much damage himself.

He closed his eyes and then he let go of the branch. The fall was short, but the landing was heavy.

“Did I get her? That landing was not soft at all.”

Then Maimut felt something on his chest. He had not succeeded. When Maimut tossed himself backwards Zoi had managed to climb around him and was now on his front, with her legs and arms clinging to his chest and was facing him. She started to punch him and scratch him in the face but with little effect.

This was his chance. His frontside is where he can actually reach her. The smart move was for her to jump away and reposition herself, but she got blood thirsty.

Maimut looks her straight in her eyes and grabs her with both his arms, almost as he was hugging her.

“You are agile and have endurance but let us show the Tribe if you can handle real pain.”

“If you survive this, then I will yield.”

He began to squeeze with all his power. Zoi’s body was wrapped around Maimut’s big arms and she felt how the air quickly left her body. She was unable to move and knew that his was it. He had gotten the better of her. He truly was the rightful Guardian in this year’s trials.

With the remaining air from her lungs she managed to whisper it to Maimut.

“…You win, stop squeezing!”

Maimut let go of her and put her softly on the ground again.

The elders looked around at themselves, even more impressed with Maimut after this display. Zahn took a step forward for he was almost jumping with joy that his year had produced such a fine Guardian.

“There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that you, Maimut, shall join me as a Guardian!”

“We do not know what your parents have fed you since you were a little ape, but in any case, it has worked.

Zahn asks Maimut to join him and the Elders so he can present him to the tribe as the new apprentice of the Guardians. They were now both facing the challengers and the rest of the tribe.

Zahn took his hand and raised it into the air.

“We are very pleased and fortunate to have such a strong Guardian this season. I expect big things from you Maimut.”

Maimut nods and beats his chest towards Zahn and the challengers.

In the meantime, behind Zahn and Maimut, the Elders were whispering amongst themselves.

“Shall we go against the traditions and ask them?”

“I think it is a brilliant idea. One never knows how much safety our tribe needs.”

Onob, the great Elder went towards Zahn and Maimut and placed his hands on their shoulders.

“Congratulations to you Maimut. You definitely showed the challengers how tough a trial can be. You can go down to the other challengers and enjoy the moment.”

“Zahn, we want to make an announcement. One that will make you very happy, we presume.”

“Before we continue with the rest of the trials, we would like to break our traditions. We, the Elders, strongly feel that this season, we want to give a second chance to our challengers that has fought so bravely against Maimut. We would like to ask them, if they are willing to fight each other for the last spot as a Guardian.”

“The opportunity of a lifetime has just been presented to you, Zoi and Chim. The question is, are you ready for one last fight?”

Chim, who had been thrown to the ground from his tail and was still feeling the Maimut effect, looked over at Zoi.

Zoi, who had been hugged and squeezed so hard that she could not breath, was also feeling the Maimut effect, looked over at Chim and they simultaneously nodded to each other.

With no hesitation they both turned to Onob and replied.

“We were born ready!”